Berkley Gulp! Alive

I’m pretty skeptical when it comes to new fishing tackle, well almost always. Every year the market is flooded with new products and at times it’s hard to see through the marketing and hype. I guess whether or not you think something will work is up to each angler, and it’s usually based on experience or an interest of trying something new.

The soft plastic industry is no different when it comes to changes. It reminds me of the days when I used to collect baseball cards. There is extended, platinum, special edition, etc. versions when there used to be just one card by one maker. Like baseball cards, there is so many variations of the traditional worm or grub it’s crazy. But I will admit, Berkley Fishing has hit a chord with me and their line of Gulp® baits.

I wanted to have something that gave me the confidence of livebait, but without the hassle. I wasn’t raised on using soft plastics for walleyes. I grew up fishing Minnesota where big shiners reign supreme. I started using Berkley Gulp® about 2-3 years ago and was instantly hooked, and for obvious reasons. My first ever cast was with a 3/8″ oz. chartreuse jig and a 4 inch chartreuse Gulp grub. I wanted a fast drop as there was an 11 foot dropoff I was targeting. Would you believe me if I told you my first cast with Gulp raised a 28.5″ walleye? No joke! Here is that picture.

Fast forward a few years and now we have Berkley Gulp! Alive! baits. These come in a container that is basically a soaking bath for your soft plastics. At a first look, the caution flag was thrown up as the retail price of the small container is $19.99 and the larger version is $39.99. That is pretty expensive for soft plastics. Luckily, I was able to try them out first.

My first time using it I was fishing with Bill and Jon Mitzel from Dakota Country Magazine on the Missouri River south of Bismarck. We had a scoop of fatheads and a container of 3″ Minnow Gulp Alive in Emerald Shiner. After the Gulp Alive caught 6 to 1 over minnows, I gave it a shot. It didn’t take long to land a 23″ walleye and I knew it could catch fish.

Now to be fair, there are times when it probably doesn’t matter what you’re using; simply put the bait in front of the active fish and the result will be the same. But lately I’m flat out confident using the bait and to me confidence matters. My last 5 times out fishing this week we didn’t purchase any minnows and we’ve been pounding walleyes without missing a beat. Yesterday wasn’t any different as we had over 25 walleyes in the boat in the first hour, all on Berkley Gulp Alive!

So I guess you can say I’m a believer in the new line of Berkley soft plastics. And while the price tag has caught a lot of slack, to be fair my $19.99 container of baits is still going strong after going through over 100 walleyes. Consider how much I would’ve paid for bait over the same timeframe and it’s probably a wash.

So I will give Berkely Gulp Alive an A- Rating.